Mercedes-Benz replaces CLK with E-class coupe

After a 12-year run and more than 460,000 sales across two generations, Mercedes-Benz has replaced the CLK with the 2010 E-class coupe.

Debuting at next month's Geneva motor show and with U.S. sales slated to begin in June, the upmarket two-door represents a departure from its predecessor not only in name but also on a technical basis, switching from the old C-class platform to a modified version of the structure that underpins the recently revealed E-class sedan.

The change is part of a broader plan to take the E-class coupe farther upmarket from the position held by the outgoing CLK, in the process providing room at the lower end of the Mercedes line for the introduction of a C-class coupe. That car is expected to boast a four-door layout like the CLS's when it arrives in 2012 as a replacement for the underachieving European-market CLC entry-level luxury coupe.

In keeping with the name change, the tautly drawn exterior design of the new coupe is heavily influenced by the E-class sedan. Traditional flourishes include a prominent grille, frameless doors and a pillarless greenhouse. They are offset by distinctive twin trapezoidal-shaped headlamps, a clamshell hood and almost comically overwrought rear-wheel arch flares, which Mercedes says are intended to echo a styling cue from the famous 1953 Ponton Mercedes. It is an odd combination; the E-class coupe is more distinctive than its predecessor, but it has also lost some of its classical elegance in the process.

It is 1.8 inches longer and wider but almost an inch lower than the outgoing second-generation CLK, with a nearly 2-inch-longer wheelbase. The increase in exterior dimensions makes for greater interior accommodation--legroom and shoulder room have increased both front and rear, Mercedes says.

The E-class coupe will be the basis for a new E-class convertible as well, replacing the CLK droptop. It will debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September and go on sale in the United States in early 2010. It will come with a traditional fabric roof, even though prototypes of a folding hardtop version have been spied in recent months.

Inside, the E-class coupe's cabin and dashboard layout are similar to the E-class sedan's. The emphasis is on re-establishing the Mercedes reputation for quality, with plush materials and all of the latest gadgetry, including its rotary COMAND controller. The front seats boast a full-length backrest with integral headrests, while the individual rear seats can be folded away to extend the volume of the trunk, which is larger than the trunk on the CLK.

For more details on the new Mercedes-Benz E-class coupe, get the Feb. 23 issue of AutoWeek.

By Greg Kable